The United States Ratifies the Geneva Convention; a Great Moment in US History

The efforts of Clara Barton and the Red Cross were instrumental in gaining American adoption of the Convention

 

The Geneva International Conference of 1863 was the founding Conference of the Red Cross and gave the impetus to the development of the humanitarian laws of war embodied in subsequent Geneva Conventions.

This great humanitarian movement was initiated by Henry Dunant who, in 1859, was an eyewitness of the battle of Solferino where thousands of wounded died without care who could have been saved if sufficient medical services had existed. In 1862, Dunant published his famous book “A Memory of Solferino” in which he proposed to set up in time of peace relief societies in each country for the care of the wounded in time of war. He also proposed the adoption of an international agreement to protect medical staff and the injured. The book aroused much approval all over Europe.

The Geneva Society of Public Welfare took up Dunant’s ideas and on February 9, 1863, appointed five men as a Geneva Committee to consider the idea of recruiting voluntary male nurses to serve the armed forces in the field. The Committee gave itself the name of “International Relief Committee for Injured Combatants”, and in 1875 would adopt the historic name “International Committee of the Red Cross”. The Committee convened an International Conference in Geneva in October 1863 at which 16 states and 4 philanthropic institutions were represented. This Committee was thus the foundation of the Red Cross, and the 1863 conference was the first conference or convention called by the Red Cross.

After the successful termination of the Geneva Conference of 1863, the Swiss Federal Council, on the initiative of the Committee, invited the governments of all European and several American states to a diplomatic conference – the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field – for the purpose of adopting rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts. The conference, at which 16 nations were represented, took place in August 1864. The draft Convention submitted to the Conference, which was prepared by the Geneva Committee, was adopted by the Conference without major alterations on August 22. The main principles laid down in the Convention and maintained by the later Geneva Conventions were relief to the wounded without any distinction as to nationality, inviolability of medical personnel and medical establishments and units, and the distinctive sign of the red cross on a white background.

Twelve European states, including France, Spain and Italy, signed the Convention in 1864. By 1866, Great Britain, Austria, Norway and Sweden were added to the list of signatories. The United States did not then sign.

A second diplomatic conference was convened at Geneva in October 1868 in order to clarify some provisions of the Convention of 1864, and particularly to adapt the principles of the Convention to sea warfare. These Additional Articles were adopted on October 20, 1868.

During a trip to Switzerland in 1869, Clara Barton learned about the Red Cross movement and the effort to provide neutral aid to those injured in combat. Inspired by that cause, Barton volunteered with the International Committee of the Red Cross, providing civilian relief during the Franco-Prussian War. This experience, along with her work during the Civil War, inspired Clara to bring the Red Cross movement to America. In 1881 she founded the American National Red Cross. One of the association’s first goals was to secure the ratification of the Geneva Convention by the United States. Its efforts were successful. A Declaration of Accession to the Convention was signed by President Arthur on March 1, 1882, and the Senate ratified the accession later that month. But none of this would be effective until the order to implement the accession was signed by the President and sealed with the Great Seal of the United States.

Document signed, Washington, January 22, 1883, being the original order for the United States to implement the Geneva Convention. “I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to my act acceding to the International Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in Armies in the Field of 22 August 1864, and also to the Convention on the same subject of October 20, 1868, [the accession being] dated the first day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Two, and signed by me; and for so doing, this shall be your warrant. Chester A. Arthur.”

Thus was history made as the United States ratified the Geneva Convention.

The Convention of 1864 was replaced by the Geneva Conventions of 1906, 1929 and 1949 on the same subject. The Geneva Conventions have been ratified by nearly every country in the world—194 states in total. Countries that violate the Geneva Conventions can be held accountable for charges of war crimes.